Let me give you a stat that I think is worthwhile. Phillip Rivers is LAST in passing yards this season. LAST! I know the Chargers D is great, I know LT is one of the best backs in the league (probably the best all-purpose back), but their QB is completely untested. I think we'll see Rivers exposed this week against a tough Baltimore D.

Dan, the argument you always pose for College football should ring true here. San Diego in 1st despite a bye week (i.e., inertia)? Yet the Bengals won a big game on the road, improved to 3-0 and still sit behind the Chargers who did nothing to cement that 1st place spot? Or take the Colts- they beat YOUR Jags, arguably the toughtest game in Week 3, and yet they trail the Chargers AND the Bengals AND da' Bears.

C'mon, be consistent in philosophy- you have to do something NOW to make a move (up OR down).

The Broncos are a few slots too high, I mean it's pretty much Jason Elam's team now.

The Titans, who can't even decide which QB to play in any given game, or quarter for that matter, are a little too high also.

And I think the Bills could be a few slots higher, there defense is at least worth that.

I'm not sold on the chargers as #1, not because of P. Rivvy, but because they haven't really played anyone tough yet. And Rivers is of course gonna be last, because he didn't have to throw vs. Oakland, and they just had a bye week.

I'd take Indy for #1 at this point, especially if you think about the injuries they have going on, when they are full strength they'll definitely be the team to beat. I'd love to see how they'd fare against the Chi D though.

How can you rate New Orleans way up in the Top 5? They beat up on Cleveland and Green Bay. Sure, you can argue that they toasted some bird on Monday Night, but that was an emotional win. The Jags, Hawks, and Broncos are perceivingly better than the Saints.

Shanoff, I like you a lot, but these are easily the worst rankings I have ever seen.

Indy or Cincy are the only acceptable #1 teams, Indy moreso since they beat your vaunted Jaguars. The Seahawks haven't been great but they're still a top 5 team. The Jags are great but they have no business being ahead of the Seahawks or the Ravens (and I don't even like the Ravens).

The Saints shouldn't be in the top 5, especially since their first 2 opponents were so shitty. I like the Saints...they're a feel good story, but come on.

The Falcons are better than their ranking. The Giants are better than the Jets (and I'm a Jets fan).

Sure, Dude. Pittsburgh is #19. Lost two hard fought games, against two other of the top teams in the league, dealing with some injuries which just might heal up a bit over the bye, with one of the best coaches in the league who has a way of talking his team into not making a bunch of mistakes, which they did in week 3. Yeah, the jets would easily take the steelers. same with the rams. same with the saints, falcons, broncos, and vikes. Man, the Steeler's might just want to tank their game with the Raiduhs, so they can get Adrian Peterson (but shanoff is such a BigBen hater, he'd probably pencil in Quinn for the steelers).

And sure, SD slapped around the bitches of the league, and so obviously are the best team in the league.

I agree with Gary, you are on crack, although I'm not so sure I agree with some of his assessments... you can rank one loss teams above 0 loss teams, based on who the respective teams have played; you argue that indy should be first, but JAX should be worse than 6th, even though they put quite the scare into Indy? Besides, I have a hard time figuring Indy as the undisputed #1 (their only credential for that is their win over the jags, who may be UNDERranked at 6).

If the iggles hadn't choked in the 4th quarter two weeks ago, I'd put them 1; as it is, I'd say it should probably go to the 'hawks. And you have to like the bears defense. Or, begrudgingly, maybe the bungles should be 1. (And no, I will not stop calling them the bungles, cause it's just kind of fun to say).

I think Dan's getting caught up in computer rankings, his list is pretty similar to the computer ranking data that Vegas uses to set its lines (guys like Sagarin over at USA Today, who also lists the Chargers at #1 on his predictor scale).

Well, it looks similar except for the Saints at #5. That's just batshit insane.

Are you smoking crack? There is clearly no way in hell that the bucs are 31. Give credit where credit is due, they are clearly number 32. Rookie starter, aging defense, no running game, A kicker who gets everything either blocked or goes wide, and a megalomaniac at coach who has some of the most questionable play calling around. Without a doubt they are the worst team in football. Was it really three super bowls ago that we won?

I dunno, it's a pretty good battle for crappiest team in the NFL, the coveted #32.

I think the NFL should just take the Titans, Raiders, Bucs, Texans and Lions out of the league and stick them in a round-robin tournament for the rest of the regular season. The top 3 finishers get to play in the NFL next season. Whoever finishes 4th is demoted to the Arena Football League. Whoever finishes 5th is demoted to the Canadian Football League.

daddy-o, the Chargers played bad teams, but they did utterly destroy them (they've allowed one touchdown in two weeks); it's likely that despite the low quality of the opposition, they've played the best so far. I don't think that will last (despite being a San Diegan and sometime Bolts fan); the Chargers look much better than I thought (and, more importantly, the Chiefs and Broncos look worse), but I expect the Colts will top the AFC power rankings at the end of the regular season.

It's far too early in the season to name the best team. But I think I can come to some conclusions about a few things. First, the Colts are always the best team (recently) in the first month of the season. So what? Peyton won't win a Super Bowl this year. Colts fans should get over it. Secondly, the Bengals lost two starting linebackers. They're out. The Chargers have a first year starting quarterback - but he isn't a rookie and he has the best offensive player (LT) and defensive player (S&M) on his team. So they're in the mix. Seatle's out thanks to Alexander's decision to appear on the Madden cover, a lack of drive-blocking offensive linemen, and a balding quarterback. I mean, really, when has a balding QB ever led his team to the Super Bowl?

Forget Pittsburgh - the D isn't there. The Pats are playing with smoke and mirrors. The Bears? Perhaps. Dallas? OK, I'll bite, until Bledsoe throws one up for grabs in the divisional series. How about America's team? The D is too slow. I'll take the Bears, Chargers, and Dallas as the top three. There, I said it.

Is this a story about the power rankings or a Bucs Bashing Post? #31, pretty weak, but not too far off. Gradkowski will now join the ranks of other MAC QB's as: Pennington, Leftwich, and Roethsliberger. For crying out loud that kid beat Miami(OH) throwing over 300 yards....with a broken wrist...and a dislocated shoulder. I do NOT think he is going to go out there and start gun slinging, but I do think he will look like Big Ben his rookie year.....JUST do enough, and do not throw the bad ball. The defense might be old, but they have what every coach wants, Chemistry. What you call old, I call veterans.

The Chargers are a bit untested, and maybe Im picking with my heart, but I think they are #1.

I am from Indy but won't be a homer here. I would say Indy is a solid #2 until they prove they can run the ball effectively and more importantly, show that they can stop the run on defense. Maybe if they cut Joe Adai loose, at least one of those questions would be answered. And if Cory Simon ever gets back into the lineup the other question will be resolved decently enough. Ted Marchibroda was on the radio the other night here and said in his 30 years running football teams, he has never seen an injury list as long as the Colts have right now, so I have faith they will be #1 by the end.. just not yet.

#1.. I think it has to go to Da Bears. Sick defense and a better then average offense now. Cincy last week lucked into a win, and I think if they played the Bears, they would get stomped by the defense. I also am very confident that the Peyton and Harrison show would fly high once again on the Bengals. So my top three would go:1. Bears2. Colts3. Bengals

Saints really don't deserve top 5. All the experts pretty much still stick to their story that they aren't even a playoff team this year. Being a Purdue grad, I would love to see the Drew Brees addition prove them wrong, but it is too early, and they do have a proven history of falling apart in the second half of the season. Ravens defintely deserve to be ahead of them.

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DanShanoff.com is a sports-blog spin-off of my long-time ESPN.com column, "The Daily Quickie." Anchored by an early-morning post of must-know topics, the blog is updated frequently throughout the day with new posts and user comments.